Buyer-side auction dynamic pricing agent, system, method and computer program product

ABSTRACT

The present invention sets forth a system, method, and computer program product for automating an interaction between a buyer and an electronic, variable, dynamic pricing online auction service. The method can include receiving a registration of a buyer at an Internet enabled buyer bidding site, a portfolio, and account information. The method can also receive entered information about financial transaction instruments, contact information, and product preferences in an auction profile. The method can receive a search query for a desired product from product auctions of a plurality of auction sites and can use a search agent or a meta-search agent, and can provide returned auctions, including retrieving and presenting current status of product auctions. The method can receive a selection of returned auctions to store in the portfolio for tracking by scan agents and for bidding by bid proxies. The method can receive selections of product auctions of the returned auctions and place the product auctions into the portfolio for use by a cascaded bid proxy. The method can provide auction monitoring by scan agents of temporal progression of product auctions, and can notify someone via a messaging center of any changes in relevant aspects of the status that could prevent an initial bid from being placed by a bid proxy. The method can enable activation of bid proxies as an auction nears completion to begin placing bids until the auction is won or lost by auction closing and can confirm a counter-offer has not out-bid. The method can compute and execute another higher bid if a counter-offer has been made and accepted, higher than the most recent bid detected

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

[0001] The present application is a U.S. Non-Provisional PatentApplication related to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No.60/235,548 of identical title, filed Sep. 27, 2000 the contents of whichare incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] 1. Field of the Invention

[0003] The present invention is related generally to online auctions,and more particularly to buyer side bidding tools.

[0004] 2. Related Art

[0005] One of the first widely popular website types facilitated bywidespread user access to the Internet, is the online auction site.Online auctions, initially in the business to consumer (B2C) space, suchas, e.g., EBAY, and Yahoo!Auctions enable many consumer clients with acomputer and an Internet Service provider (ISP) account, to participateas a buyer (i.e., bidder user, or member), or seller (or biddee) in anauction. With the advent of business to business (B2B) electroniccommerce auction sites such as, e.g., Freemarkets, business buyers in aprocurement department can similarly bid on, e.g., supplies, parts, andvendor equipment.

[0006] Conventionally, online auctions can occur 24 hours per day, sevendays per week. Unfortunately, a bidder is not able to monitor the statusof an auction continually. It is desirable that tools to automate thebidding process be made available to bidders. Unfortunately, auctionsites also continually create countermeasures to make it difficult toautomate bidding.

[0007] Conventional auctions include bidding rules and biddingparameters. Unfortunately, bidding rules and parameters can change fromtime to time.

[0008] Conventionally, tools designed to automate the bidding processfor a bidder (i.e., on the buy side) have been standalone workstationsoftware based and lack various desirable features. Unfortunately, asbidding rules and parameters change and counter measures are added, thestandalone software based tools no longer work. Thus, it is desirablethat an improved tool be provided that overcomes the shortcomings ofconventional solutions.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0009] The present invention is directed to a system, method andcomputer program product that automates many of the processes of thebuyer-side of a dynamic pricing or auction pricing transaction executedon the Internet. An exemplary embodiment of the present invention isavailable from Argosy Omnimedia, Inc. of Rockville, Md. U.S.A. Thetechnology developed and commercialized by Argosy, according to thepresent invention, includes, in an exemplary embodiment, any of several,advantageous, separate components that can be integrated into aconvenient program agent that can track performance of a given auctionand can conduct a bidding transaction on behalf of the buyer on aspecific auction site or sites.

[0010] The Buyer can select the targeted auction and auctioned item(product) from a result list. The result list can be created by use of ameta search engine. One or more items, i.e., products, can then beselected from the result list to receive automated bids placed by thebuyer's bidding proxy.

[0011] An exemplary embodiment of the present invention sets forth asystem, method, and computer program product for automating aninteraction between a buyer and an electronic, variable, dynamic pricingonline auction service is provided. The method can include the steps of:a. receiving a registration of a buyer at an Internet, web-enabled,buyer bidding application site (site) by creating logon credentials thatare used to authenticate and authorize the buyer's access to the site, aportfolio of the buyer, and account information of the buyer, whereinthe logon credentials are provided by an independent 3rd party through alogon agent using at least one of proxied identification and digitalcertificates; b. receiving entered information about financialtransaction instruments of the buyer, contact information including atleast one of a telephone number, an email address, and a physical mailaddress, and product preferences into an auction profile of the buyer;c. receiving a search query from the buyer for a desired product fromthe product auctions of a plurality of auction sites including at leastone of keywords, model identification, brand identification, synonyms,and unique identification, using at least one of a search agent and ameta-search agent, and providing returned auctions, including retrievingcurrent status of the product auctions and presenting the current statusto the buyer; receiving a selection of one or more of the returnedauctions to store in the portfolio of the buyer for tracking by one ormore scan agents and for bidding by one or more bid proxies; d.receiving selections of a plurality of product auctions of the returnedauctions and placing the plurality of product auctions into theportfolio for use by a cascaded bid proxy; e. providing monitoring bythe one or more scan agents of temporal progression of the plurality ofproduct auctions, and notifying the Buyer via a messaging center of anychanges in relevant aspects of the current status of any of theplurality of product auctions that would prevent an initial bid frombeing placed by the bid proxy; f. enabling activation of the one or morebid proxies as any completing auction that nears completion of theplurality of product auctions, to begin placing one or more bids untilthe completing auction is either won or lost by time of auction closing,including enabling interaction between the scan agent and the bid proxyto place the bid of the buyer as close to the time of auction closing aspossible and to confirm that a counter-offer has not out-bid a mostrecent bid of the Buyer; g. computing and executing another valid higherbid that is within the bid parameters, if the counter-offer has beenmade and accepted by the auction site that is higher than the mostrecent bid detected by the scan agent.

[0012] In one exemplary embodiment, the step (e) can include: 1.notifying the Buyer when a current price of a targeted auction exceedsprogrammed bid parameters of the bid proxy, comprising at least one of:a. examining with an internal scan agent, bid information stored in theportfolio of the Buyer; and b. sending information to the Buyer using atleast one of wired and wireless messaging technologies including atleast one of an email, a page, a text page, an instant message, and another communication, if a programmed bid with invalid bid parameters orother important information is detected.

[0013] In one exemplary embodiment, the step (e) can include: 1.notifying the Buyer when an auction has been won using at least one of abid proxy of the Buyer and a programmed bid, wherein information is sentto the Buyer using at least one of wired and wireless messagingtechnologies including at least one of an email, a text page, an instantmessage, a communication, and a hypertext link to bid information storedin the portfolio of the Buyer.

[0014] In one exemplary embodiment, the method can further include: h.managing at least one of payment instruments, payment devices, contact,and financial status, of the Buyer through an online, personalizablebuyer profile account comprising: 1. presenting registration screens tothe Buyer for the collection of contact information including at leastone of an email, a physical mail address, a telephone number, a pager,and an alternative contact information, and financial instrumentinformation; 2. creating an account information record in a database ofthe information and linking the account information record to anyactivated auction portfolios of the buyer; and 3. providing access forthe Buyer to the account information record and modifying the accountinformation record as needed subsequent to buyer authentication.

[0015] In one exemplary embodiment, the method can further include: h.accelerating the performance of a bid proxy by using network telemetryand statistical algorithms to improve the win probability of the bid,comprising: 1. testing, using a telemetry agent, the response time of anauction site to periodically ascertain temporal latency for varioustypes of queries and commands; 2. optimizing balance between when toplace an initial bid and keeping winning price as low as possible, usinginformation on the response time obtained during response time testing,wherein response time information is stored in an updateable profile foreach auction site and is used by the bid proxy, and wherein thetelemetry information collected comprises a screen type, and atransaction type including at least one of a query for auction statusand a bid command, and a time span from a query to a response.

[0016] In one exemplary embodiment, the method can further include: h.receiving one or more persistent search agents that are programmed,persistent and operative to search one or more auction sites for productauctions of a desired product and providing returned auctions that a bidproxy can execute using at least one of a directed programmed bid, andan algorithmically calculated bid, wherein the one or more persistentsearch agents periodically search a list of a plurality of auction sitesfor product auctions that correlate with preference information storedin the profile of a buyer, including: 1. creating entries by the Buyerfor each kind of product of which the Buyer desires to be notified if aproduct containing this description becomes available for bidding on anyand all auction sites; 2. periodically searching, using the one or morepersistent search agents, search services of the plurality of auctionsites to see if a matching product can be found in lists of productsbeing auctioned; and 3. sending, to the Buyer, a link to a found productusing the message center, if any matches are found; and i. receiving atleast one of definitions of programmed bidding parameters of thedirected programmed bid to the bid proxy, and authorization of the bidproxy to algorithmically compute a lowest market price based onreviewing prevailing market prices for similar products as determined byinformation stored in a data warehouse.

[0017] In one exemplary embodiment, the method can further include: h.storing product preferences of the Buyer for products, includingpreference information that can be used by at least one of a persistentsearch agent, and a bid proxy operating under at least one of directedprogrammed bidding, and algorithmically calculated bidding parameters.

[0018] In another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, asystem, method and computer program product for automating a Buyer'sonline, electronic search agent of specific electronic auctions on atargeted auction site is set forth including: a. providing aprogrammable search agent, from a server, that searches auction catalogsof a plurality of auction sites and identifies correlations betweenproduct parameters of a Buyer that can be at least one of entered andstored, and can include at least one of keywords, productclassifications, and price ranges, and products that are listed for salethrough dynamic price competitive bidding using a number of electronicauction techniques including at least one of a Dutch, Yankee, andReverse auction techniques.

[0019] In one exemplary embodiment, the method can further include astep: b. providing additional programmable search agents searching saidplurality of auction sites simultaneously for one or more products; andc. returning a found set of said one or more products for further reviewand selection by a Buyer.

[0020] In yet another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, asystem, method and computer program product for executing one or moreprogrammed bid proxies that are controlled by bid parameters comprisingthe steps of: a. retrieving, using a scan agent, the current auctionstatus within a time to auction close window (TACW) wherein said TACWspans a range of time beginning at a time calculated by subtracting anabsolute time to start proxied bidding from an auction end time, andending with a time of the auction end time, wherein the TACW defines aperiod of time when a scan agent and a bid proxy work in tandem to placeas many bids as necessary to win an auction; b. determining, by a bidproxy, if parameters of the current auction status fall within a rangeof acceptable auction status parameters; c. computing, using the bidproxy, a next valid price by adding a minimum valid price increment to acurrent auction price to compute an offer price, if the current auctionprice is below a maximum price, using the parameters of the currentauction status; d. activating a bid proxy, and placing a bid inaccordance with an auction site specific protocol, if the offer price isbelow the maximum price in the acceptable auction status parameters,wherein the auction site specific protocol varies from site to site, anda basic protocol involves at least one of entering the offer price, andauthenticating as the Buyer so the offer price can be correlated with anaccount of the Buyer on the auction site and entered on behalf of theBuyer; e. retrieving the current auction status, using the scan agent,to verify that a latest bid of the Buyer has been accepted by theauction site; f. repeating steps (b) through (e) until auction end, ifthe current auction status indicates that the offer price of the Buyerhas been rejected or outbid by another bidder; and g. scanning theauction, at the auction end, to determine win/loss status of the auctionand storing the win/loss status in portfolio of the Buyer for laterreporting to the Buyer through a messaging system.

[0021] In one exemplary embodiment, the step (a) can include: 1.computing the TACW based on a value derived from a data warehouse of thesite, wherein the value derived is computed based on a minimum absolutetime that has been logged for prior successful auctions for a givenauction site, wherein the minimum absolute time is a time till close(TTC) value; and 2. computing the TTC value using probability analysisand auction site telemetry information computed based on recent responsetimes and network latencies as determined by the scan agent.

[0022] In another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, asystem, method and computer program product for providing cascadedbidding including: a. executing a series of cascaded bids for anidentical product in temporally sequential auctions according to aprogrammed set of bid parameters, wherein the bid parameters comprise atleast one of the following types: a programmed bid value limit for oneor more units of product; an algorithmically calculated bid value limitbased on prevailing market prices for similar or identical productsmonitored by agents and stored in a data warehouse.

[0023] In another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, asystem, method and computer program product for scanning online auctionsusing a scan agent, including: a. scanning web pages of a targetedauction site and extracting relevant auction status informationincluding at least one of an open, a close, a maximum bid, a minimumvalid bid, a last bidder, and other auction parameters and informationusing a scan agent that can be used to compute a valid Buyer bid,comprising: 1. retrieving one or more programmed bids, using a scanagent, from one or more portfolios of one or more buyers; 2. extractingauction site identification from programmed bid information; 3.activating the appropriate scan agent based on the auction siteidentification and domain information of an auction site; 4. retrievingusing the scan agent the latest auction site characterizationinformation available for that auction site; 5. retrieving, using thescan agent, auction information from the auction site by at least one ofnavigating auction information pages of the auction site, and throughusing an application programming interface (API) that enablesprogrammatic retrieval of the auction information; 6. the currentauction parameters are retrieved, analyzed and stored in entry for theauction in the portfolio of the Buyer; and 7. performing furtheranalysis by at least one of one or more site agents and processes.

[0024] In one exemplary embodiment, the method can further include: b.scanning status pages of the auction site to track progress and statusof a targeted auction prior auction close, the method comprising of thesteps of: 1. scanning, using the scan agent, all portfolios of allBuyers for all active auctions in each of the individual portfolios ofthe Buyers; 2. scanning slowly of the auctions listed in the each of theindividual portfolios is performed for those auctions with TTC valuesthat exceed a slow/fast scan threshold (SFST) value, wherein a slow/fastscan window (SFSW) is computed by subtracting the SFST value from eachindividual auction end time; 3. evaluating auction status informationfrom those auctions that are before the start of the SFSW to determineif the Buyer's bid parameters for a given auction are no longer valid,including messaging the reason for non-validity to the Buyer using themessaging system, if the bid parameters are no longer valid for a givenauction; 4. changing status of programmed bid from slow scan to fastscan, if the scan agent determines that a given auction falls within theSFSW; 5. scanning more frequently a programmed bid in fast scan mode inorder to determine the current response time or latency of the auctionsite based on prevailing network traffic conditions; and 6.transitioning the programmed bid into active bid mode, if a bid iswithin the TACW, and execution of a bid proxy programmed bid that iscontrolled by bid parameters can be performed.

[0025] In another exemplary embodiment, the method can further include:b. distributing one or more scan agents to distributed network nodesincluding at least one of a server, a workstation, and a peer device)and executing the scanning process (“peer scan agent”) from that node inresponse to high loading conditions on the master node orcounter-measures enabled by the auction site, a method comprising thesteps of: 1. distributing and activating on peer servers a copy of theagents involved in the bidding process, if at least one of the scanagent, and any other agent, detects the agent cannot access the auctionsite because the agent is not receiving a response to inquiriesincluding at least one of a Post and a Get, wherein the peer servers arepreviously configured as support servers to the site and informationabout the peer servers is stored in a directory on a master node at thesite; 2. distributing, by the master node, bid proxies of auctions fromthe portfolio of the Buyer and bid parameters to the designated peerserver now assigned the task of bidding on a given auction by the masternode; 3. executing on the peer server the auction bid proxy as would themaster node without control from the master node; and 4. returning tothe master node subsequent to auction end, and logging into theportfolio, the resulting win/loss/failed status of the auction.

[0026] In one exemplary embodiment, the step (2) can include: i.distributing of the bid proxies to distributed network nodes includingat least one of a server, a workstation, and a peer device, andexecuting a peer bid proxy process initiated from a node responsive toat least one of high loading conditions on another node, andcounter-measures enacted by the auction site.

[0027] In another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, asystem, method and computer program product for adapting to changes inauction site layout and relevant auction site information, including: a.adapting to changes within a plurality of web pages of an auction siteand changes across the plurality of web pages, so that one or more scanagents and one or more bid proxies intelligently adapt to format anddata type changes in the web pages of the auction site including: 1.alerting by the scan agent of an intelligent process known as theinformation extractor when old information that is expected to be foundon a new page is not found; 2. examining a new page layout by theinformation extractor and comparing the new page layout data to a storedcopy of the old page layout of a known navigable page to determine ifthe old information is located elsewhere on the new page; 3. modifyingthe parameters of the scan agent by the information extractor toidentify where the old information is now located on the new page, ifthe old information is found in another location in the new page layoutthan it was in the old page layout; 4. stepping through one or moreprevious pages in navigation of pages of the auction site, by theinformation extractor, and scanning new links to see if the oldinformation has been moved to another page, if the old information isnot found in the new page layout; 5. modifying parameters of the scanagent, by the information extractor, to identify the new location of theold information, if the old information is found; and 6. sending analert to an administrator for the page and resulting navigation path tobe retrained by the administrator using at least one of a neural netengine controlling the scan agent and another intelligent enginereprogramming mechanism, if the old information is not found.

[0028] In another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, asystem, method and computer program product comprising a systemcomprising a processor and memory and any other computer peripheralcomponents well known to the art, can be used to embody a machine havingmodules each operative to perform functions analogous to the steps ofthe disclosed methods.

[0029] Further, it is important to note that a computer program productcan be provided executable on a computing system further including aremovable storage medium that can embody program logic that can includecomputer readable code means for enabling the computer to providefunctions operatively analogous to those disclosed in the disclosed andinitially claimed methods as would be apparent to those skilled in therelevant art.

[0030] Further features and advantages of the invention, as well as thestructure and operation of various exemplary embodiments of theinvention, are described in detail below with reference to theaccompanying drawings. In the drawings, like reference numbers generallyindicate identical, functionally similar, and/or structurally similarelements. The drawing in which an element first appears is indicated bythe leftmost digits in the corresponding reference number.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0031] The foregoing and other features and advantages of the inventionwill be apparent from the following, more particular description of anexemplary embodiment of the invention, as illustrated in theaccompanying drawings.

[0032]FIG. 1 depicts an exemplary embodiment of a flow diagramillustrating an AgentProxy main web site page that can provide a centralaggregation and launch point for the service according to the presentinvention;

[0033]FIG. 2 depicts an exemplary embodiment of a flow diagramillustrating a Cascaded Bid service that can enable the buyer to selectmultiple auctions for the same or several different items and can enterthem into a linked, bid cascade according to the present invention;

[0034]FIG. 3 depicts an exemplary embodiment of a flow diagramillustrating a meta-search engine component that can provide aconvenient way for the buyer to search multiple auction sites andaggregate the results into a single, sortable result set according tothe present invention;

[0035]FIG. 4 depicts an exemplary embodiment of a flow diagramillustrating a meta-registration engine component that can provide aconvenient, centralized service that can create registration accountsfor the buyer on each of the dynamic pricing or auction sites that aretracked by the product according to the present invention;

[0036]FIG. 5 depicts an exemplary embodiment of a flow diagramillustrating a mybid portfolio that can provide a centralized area whereactive bids of the buyer can be stored and displayed according to thepresent invention;

[0037]FIG. 6 depicts an exemplary embodiment of a flow diagramillustrating a myaccount component that can provide a convenient areafor the buyer where the buyer can manage information pertaining to theaccount of the buyer, according to the present invention;

[0038]FIG. 7 depicts an exemplary embodiment of a flow diagramillustrating a bid engine component that can include bid automationbusiness process logic that can manage the agent and proxyfunctionality, according to the present invention;

[0039]FIG. 8 depicts an exemplary embodiment of a flow diagramillustrating a fastscan bid engine component that can be designed totake advantage of “thread pool,” software component based run-timearchitectures, according to the present invention;

[0040]FIG. 9 depicts an exemplary embodiment of a flow diagramillustrating a bidagent component that can perform the actual bidding onbehalf of the Buyer/Bidder, according to the present invention;

[0041]FIG. 10 depicts an exemplary embodiment of a flow diagramillustrating a proxied peer-to-peer distributed server bid engine of thepresent invention; and

[0042]FIG. 11 depicts an exemplary embodiment of a flow diagramillustrating a monitoring process that tracks a maximum bid value.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF AN EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENT

[0043] A preferred embodiment of the invention is discussed in detailbelow. While specific implementations are discussed, it should beunderstood that this is done for illustration purposes only. A personskilled in the relevant art will recognize that other components andconfigurations may be used without parting from the spirit and scope ofthe invention.

[0044] The present invention is directed to a system, method andcomputer program product including several inter-working components thatare designed to provide a convenient, programmable product for selectingtargeted products on dynamic pricing or auction sites, entering thebidding parameters and then allowing the software driven, server basedagent to proxy the buyer's bidding transactions in order to win anauction on a given product or products at the lowest possible price withminimal manual intervention on the part of the buyer user.

[0045] The components of the invention can include, in an exemplaryembodiment:

[0046] AgentProxy Main Site Page;

[0047] Cascaded Bid;

[0048] Meta-Search Engine;

[0049] Meta-Registration Engine;

[0050] MyBid Portfolio;

[0051] MyAccount;

[0052] Bid Engine;

[0053] FastScan Bid Engine;

[0054] Proxied Peer-to-Peer Distributed Server Bid Engine; and

[0055] Maximum Bid Monitoring Process.

[0056] Each component is described below with reference to the attachedFIGS. 1-11. A buyer or buyer user is another term for a memberregardless of whether a subscription or transaction fee is charged ornot.

[0057]FIG. 1 depicts an exemplary embodiment of a flow diagram 100illustrating an AgentProxy main web site page that can provide a centralaggregation and launch point for the service. The page can provide linksto the services or components within the site and can provide access tothe authentication and authorization service that can identify a user asa registered member or can provide a link to a registration page where auser can become a registered member by, e.g., entering contactinformation, preferences and profile information into the AgentProxysite.

[0058] Specifically, flow diagram 100 depicts process thread 102, agentproxy 104, agent proxy 106 and AgentProxy homepage 110. Further depictedare process thread 158, agent proxy 160, and bid engine scheduled event162 leading to bid engine 164. Further depicted are process thread 166,agent proxy 168, and current bid monitor 170 leading to current bidmonitor 172.

[0059] From the AgentProxy homepage 110, decision step 112 determineswhether my bid portfolio is selected. If yes, decision step 114determines whether the user is logged in. If the user is logged in, flowproceeds to my bid portfolio 116. If the user is not logged in at step114, authentication credentials are obtained in step 134. Then themember database is searched for the user ID in step 136. Usinginformation obtained from stored member account 138, decision step 140determines whether the user ID is recognized. If user ID is notrecognized, flow proceeds to member registration step 146. If user ID isrecognized, the profile is retrieved and the cookie session is set instep 142. Flow then proceeds to What's New 144.

[0060] If my bid portfolio in step 112 is not selected, decision step118 determines if my account is selected. If yes, decision step 120determines whether the user is logged in. If the user is logged in, flowproceeds to my account 122. If the user is not logged in in step 120,flow proceeds to get authentication credentials step 134 as describedabove.

[0061] If my account in step 118 is not selected, decision step 124determines if auction search is selected. If yes, flow proceeds tometa-search 126. If no, decision step 128 determines ifmeta-registration is selected. If yes, flow proceeds to meta-register130. If no, decision step 132 determines whether LogIn is selected. Ifyes, flow proceeds to get authentication credentials step 134 asdescribed above. If no, decision step 148 determines if supporting pagelinks is selected. If yes, flow proceeds to page links 150. If no,service promotions are presented in step 152. Next, banner ads arepresented in step 154. The process ends at step 156.

[0062]FIG. 2 depicts an exemplary embodiment of a flow diagram 200illustrating a cascaded bid service that can enable the buyer to selectmultiple auctions for the same or several different items and can enterthem into a linked, bid cascade (“cascade”). The cascade can be a listof auctions that close at different times. The cascaded bid of FIG. 2can service and can track the proxied bidding of each item in a cascade.The bid parameters and prioritization of bid placements can be afunction of the sequentially temporal nature of the auction close eventsand the application of statistical algorithms can evaluate winprobability based on, e.g., current price, time to auction close andrelative differential price as a function of, e.g., the average marketprice for the same or similar item. As bids on cascaded auctions aresequentially executed, the cascade can continue to proxy bids until oneauction in the cascade is won. Once an auction in the cascade is won, inan exemplary embodiment, all subsequent auctions can be cancelled.

[0063] Specifically, flow diagram 200 depicts a flow proceeding fromcascade bid 202. In step 204, the cascaded bid list is prepared. Next,in step 206, it is verified that the cascaded closes are staggered intime. Then cascaded bid parameters 208 are checked to determine, in step210, whether a cascade is to be deleted. If a cascade is deleted, thecascaded mode is removed, along with items from the portfolio, in step212. Then, if a cascade is not deleted, and after cascaded mode andportfolio items are removed, it is verified that the parameters satisfycascade boundary conditions in step 214. Then, the AP statistical winassessment algorithm is applied to the cascade item bid priority in step216. Violations and log exceptions are computed next in step 218. Theexception conditions and boundary violations are displayed in step 220and are stored in step 224. Decision step 222 determines whether thereare exception or violations. If yes, flow proceeds back to checkingcascaded bid parameters 208 for deletion in step 210. If no, then theactive bids are loaded or reloaded with cascade mode and bid priority instep 226 and are stored as portfolio 230. Finally, flow proceeds to bidportfolio 228.

[0064]FIG. 3 depicts an exemplary embodiment of a flow diagram 300illustrating a meta-search engine component that can provide aconvenient way for the buyer to search multiple auction sites andaggregate the results into a single, sortable result set. The buyer canenter in parameters such as the brand name or the model number of aparticular item. The meta-search engine can then proxy this request tothe various auction site specific search engines. The results can thenbe aggregated, sorted and displayed to the user as one integrated resultlist identifying which auction site is conducting auctions for eachitem. The buyer can then click on a particular item's identificationcode or description in order to link to the auction site to obtain moreinformation on the item prior to entering it into the Bid Portfolio ofthe buyer user.

[0065] Specifically, flow diagram 300 depicts meta-search 126 where akeyword search is entered in step 302. Then auction sites to be searchedare selected in step 304. After the search, a found set is generated instep 306. The hypertext-link enabled found set or auction itemsresulting from the search are displayed in step 308. The found set canbe used to select an item from the list to link to the auction's site instep 312. Selecting an item in step 312 leads to the target auction sitein step 314. Alternatively, the hypertext-link enabled list of founditems 308 can be used to select auction items to add to a portfolio instep 310. Decision step 316 determines whether a single auction item isselected. If no, decision step 320 determines if a cascade bid isselected. If a cascade bid is selected, flow proceeds to cascade bid202. If not, the multiple auction items are loaded into a bid portfolio230 in step 322. If a single auction item is selected in step 316, thenthe bid portfolio 230 is loaded in step 318. Then flow proceeds to bidportfolio 324.

[0066]FIG. 4 depicts an exemplary embodiment of a flow diagram 400illustrating a meta-registration engine component that can provide aconvenient, centralized service that can create registration accountsfor the buyer on each of the dynamic pricing or auction sites that aretracked by the product. The meta-registration engine component cancollect a super-set of the information necessary to register on all ofthe sites and then can programmatically navigate through theregistration process of each site as the agent of the buyer and canenter the necessary information into each one of the auction sites. Anyexception conditions can be logged and displayed to the buyer. The buyercan then resolve any of these exception conditions manually orprogrammatically as needed.

[0067] Specifically, flow diagram 400 depicts the meta-register 130.Using the inputs of member selections for auction sites to register 402and the user's meta-registration information 404, site user agreementsare displayed in step 406. Then, the user's acceptance of the site useragreements is recorded in step 408. The user is next registered on theauction site in step 410. Any exception conditions are handled in step412. If there are more auction sites to register in step 414, the flowrepeats starting from step 408. If there are no more auction sites toregister, the auction site registration information is stored in step416. The registration complete status is displayed in step 418. Thenflow proceeds to agent proxy 104.

[0068]FIG. 5 depicts an exemplary embodiment of a flow diagram 500illustrating a MyBid portfolio that can provide a centralized area wherethe buyer's active bids can be stored and displayed. The buyer can enterbid automation parameters into each bid's record by, e.g., clicking onthe auctioned item's informational record, or updating the informationdirectly on the portfolio summary page. The buyer can also edit andmodify parameters on active bids by increasing or decreasing maximumbids, time to close activation and other bid or item related parameters.The buyer can also delete items in the portfolio regardless of whetherbids have already been placed or not.

[0069] Specifically, flow diagram 500, depicts getting a session cookiefor one or more my bid portfolios 116, 324, 228 in step 502. Then themember's bid portfolio is displayed in step 504. Next, an item isselected on which to enter or edit a programmed bid, in step 506. Ifindividual mode is selected in step 508, or if neither individual modenor a cascaded bid mode item in step 510 is selected, bid parameters areretrieved in step 512. If individual mode is not selected but there is acascaded bid mode item selected, then bid parameters for all items inthe cascade are retrieved in step 514. Step 514 is followed by step 516where the integrity of the cascaded item set is verified. Then steps 512and 516 both proceed to step 518, where the maximum bid is entered oredited. Next, the bid countdown is entered or edited in step 520. Bidparameters are verified in step 522. If the bid items fail verificationin step 524, the exception list is displayed in step 526, and theexception conditions are stored in step 528. If the items are verified,the active bids are loaded or reloaded in step 530. The portfolio isstored in step 230, and is redisplayed in step 504, where the processrepeats.

[0070]FIG. 6 depicts an exemplary embodiment of a flow diagram 600illustrating a MyAccount component that can provide a convenient areafor the buyer where the buyer can manage information pertaining to theaccount of the buyer. Subscription levels can be modified or selected inthe MyAccount component. The buyer can also update preferences andprofile information such as contact email address. Links to bid historyon earlier auctions as well as current auctions can also be accessedthrough the MyAccount area.

[0071] Specifically, flow diagram 600 shows that information from storedmember account 138 is displayed in step 602. Then, the personal profileis created, read, updated or deleted in step 604. The resultingmodifications are again stored in member account 138. A subscription isthen modified or entered in step 606, and the subscription is alsostored in member account 138. The current transaction history, alongwith transaction history stored in 610 are then displayed in step 608.Next, if home is selected in step 612, flow proceeds to agent proxy 106.Otherwise, if support is selected in step 614, flow proceeds to customersupport 616. If support is not selected, the account information isredisplayed at step 602 and the process repeats from there.

[0072]FIG. 7 depicts an exemplary embodiment of a flow diagram 700illustrating a bid engine component that can include bid automationbusiness process logic that can manage the agent and proxyfunctionality. The bid engine can scan the active bids for all buyersand can determine which bids are ready to execute based on their time toclose activation parameter. The bid engine can then scan the targetedauction site to determine the current high bid and bidder. If the bidderis not the buyer, then the bid engine can prepare a bid based oncomputing the minimum incremental amount plus the current bid. If thecomputed bid is below the maximum bid parameter set by the buyer, thenthe engine can turn over the bid to the fastscan bid engine forprocessing. The bid engine can retrieve the Site Characterizationinformation so that the fastscan bid engine can know how to navigate thesite in order to execute the bid on behalf of the buyer. The bid enginecan also retrieve all relevant buyer information for this account sothat the proxied bid can be entered under the account of the buyer.

[0073] Specifically, flow diagram 700 shows that for any bid engine 164,702, 732, the database is scanned for an active bid in step 704 usingstored portfolio 230. Then the list of bids to execute is created orupdated in step 706. If the bid is not within the time to auction close(TAC) window in step 708, the list of bids to execute is updated in step706. Otherwise, the auction site characterization is obtained in step710. Next the item's current price is obtained in step 712. The bid iscalculated then in step 714. If the proposed bid is less than themaximum bid in step 716, then a bid is entered in step 718 using thesite characterization. The bid confirmation is logged in step 720. Thebid and the auction site are added to the fast scan list in step 722 andflow proceeds to fast scan 724. If the proposed bid exceeds the maximumbid in step 716, the item is logged as a lost bid in step 726. The itemis then set to inactive in the bid portfolio in step 728 and flowproceeds to agent proxy 160. Alternatively, flow from bid engine 730 canproceed to step 726.

[0074]FIG. 8 depicts an exemplary embodiment of a flow diagram 800illustrating a fast scan bid engine component that can be designed totake advantage of a “thread pool,” software component based run-timearchitecture. Once a bid object is turned over to the fast scan bidengine, the object can persist in fast access random access memory(DRAM) until the bid closes or until a later time if the close time isdelayed as a counter-measure response. Site Characterization informationcan include, e.g., the data set that can define the unique navigationalmodel, keywords, and name/value pairs that can describe to the Fast Scanand the Bid Agent how to inter-operate with the site in order to accessthe bid information and to emulate the buyer's interaction with the siteas an agent for the buyer.

[0075] Specifically, flow diagram 800 shows flows proceeding to a fastscan 724 or 802 where first a fast scan item is obtained in step 804.Next in step 806, fast scan site characterization is obtained andauction site characterization is stored in step 808. Next, siteperformance parameters are calibrated in step 810. Then in step 812, theitem's current price and bidder is obtained. If the current price isfrom AP users proxied bid, at decision step 814, and if the bid is notclosed at step 820, flow proceeds to fast scan 724. If the bid is closedat step 820, then the bid history and win status are logged at step 828and stored in a transaction history 610. If the current price is notfrom AP users proxied bid in step 814, and if the bid is closed at step816, then the bid history and loss status are logged at step 830 andstored in a transaction history 610. After storing the transactionhistory, decision step 832 determines if the bid was in a cascade. Ifyes, the remaining cascade items are deleted in step 834. If not, thenflow proceeds to bid engine 702.

[0076] If the bid is not closed at step 816, a bid is then calculated instep 818. If the proposed bid is less than the maximum bid, in step 822,the bid agent is accessed in step 824 and flow proceeds to bid agent826. If the proposed bid is higher than the maximum bid, flow proceedsto bid engine 730.

[0077]FIG. 9 depicts an exemplary embodiment of a flow diagram 900illustrating a bid agent component that can perform the actual biddingon behalf of the buyer/bidder. The bid agent software can useinformation contained in the site characterization to emulate theinteraction of the buyer/bidder. The bid agent can use the buyer'spersonal account information for the targeted auction site toauthenticate, place and confirm bids that are automatically entered bythe bid agent for the targeted auction. The bid agent can also useinformation contained in the auction site characterization data set todetermine how to programmatically navigate the pages of the site,identify which information is expected to confirm receipt of the correctpage and what information needs to be input for each page. The internalstate machine can progress through each state as the bid is entered andany exception conditions can be logged and handled at each of thesestates. The design of the bid agent can also support distribution of abid object to another server (see proxied peer-to-peer distributedserver bid engine described further below with reference to FIG. 10) asa means of responding to an IP Block countermeasure and can alsofacilitate traffic management by load balancing the activated bidobjects across a collection of federated or clustered servers. Bid agentcan provide a counter-measure detection capability that can interpretspecific kinds of response codes/pages and can then take actions tocomplete the bids through one of several alternatives such as, e.g.,Time to Close Delay rescheduling and proxied server bid engine (see FIG.10 below) responses.

[0078] Specifically, flow diagram 900 shows a bid agent state machineinitialized at step 902 from a flow proceeding from bid agent 826. Theinitialization can include information from stored auction sitecharacterization 808. If the state sequence is completed at step 904,the bid is then confirmed in step 906. If the bid is then accepted instep 908, flow proceeds to fast scan 802. If the state sequence is atstate s1, a bid page/form is requested based on site characterization,at step 910. The state sequence then proceeds to the next state. If thestate sequence is at state s2, the buyer/bidder authentication isentered at step 912. The state sequence then proceeds to the next state.In state s3, the bidder's bid is entered at step 914. The state sequenceis then complete.

[0079] If the bid is not accepted at step 908, counter measures aredetected in step 918. If a delay close counter measures is detected atstep 920, the item close is adjusted to the new time in step 922. Ifdelay counter measures are not detected, but block IP counter measuresare detected in step 924, the bid is distributed to a proxied peerserver in step 926. After these or other counter measures are detected,the counter measures are logged in step 928. Next, the item is moved toa list of bids to execute in step 930. Flow then proceeds to proxied bidengine 932.

[0080]FIG. 10 depicts an exemplary embodiment of a flow diagram 1000illustrating a proxied peer-to-peer distributed server bid enginecomponent that can support the distributed processing of a collection ofactivated bid objects across, e.g., multiple, federated, peer-to-peerservers. The distribution of activated bid objects across these serverscan be managed by a distributed and periodically updated list of leastrecently used servers (LRUS). If a bid object is passed to the localserver's proxied server bid engine, then the proxied peer-to-peerdistributed server bid engine component (“proxied server”) process canlook at a local copy of the LRUS table to select the most available,active server. A request can then be sent to this server to accept andprocess the bid object. The server can proactively acknowledge thereceipt of this object or can respond to a request for confirmationafter some time has expired. If a destination server denies receipt ofthe object, then the proxied server process can go to the next server onthe list and can repeat the process until an acceptable server has beenfound.

[0081] From proxied bid engine 932, an available server is selected fromthe least used algorithm in step 1002. The peer-to-peer distributedserver list is stored at step 1004. The list is also updated with anupload of available server statistics in step 1006. Next, the bid objectis sent to the server at step 1008. In step 1010, an acknowledgement isrequested from the peer-to-peer server. If the bid object is receivedand activated at step 1012, flow proceeds to bid engine 732. If not, theserver is pushed to the bottom of the queue in step 1014. The processrepeats starting at step 1002.

[0082]FIG. 11 depicts an exemplary embodiment of a flow diagram 1100illustrating a monitoring process that tracks the buyer/bidder's maximumvalue as compared to the current high bid for every activated bid objectin the portfolio. In an exemplary embodiment, if the current bid isgreater than the maximum bid value in the bid object, a notification canbe sent via, e.g., email or through a wireless distribution system toalert the buyer/bidder of the fact that the maximum bid value of thebuyer/bidder has been exceeded.

[0083] From a current bid monitor 172, the active bids in themeta-portfolio are iterated through starting at step 1102. Next, thecurrent item price is compared to the bidder's maximum price in step1104. If the current price is greater than the bidder's maximum at step1006, an email is sent to the bidder alerting him that his maximum hasbeen exceeded, in step 1110. If the current price is lower than thebidder's maximum, then if all active bids have been scanned in step1108, flow proceeds to agent proxy 168. Other wise, another iterationbegins at step 1102.

[0084] A system comprising a processor and memory can be used to embodya machine having modules each operative to perform functions analogousto the steps of the disclosed methods.

[0085] Further, it is important to note that a computer program productcan be provided executable on a computing system further including aremovable storage medium that can embody program logic that can includecomputer readable code means for enabling the computer to providefunctions operatively analogous to those disclosed in the disclosed andinitially claimed methods as would be apparent to those skilled in therelevant art.

[0086] While various exemplary embodiments of the present invention havebeen described above, it should be understood that they have beenpresented by way of example only, and not limitation. Thus, the breadthand scope of the present invention should not be limited by any of theabove-described exemplary embodiments, but should be defined only inaccordance with the following claims and their equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for automating an interaction between abuyer and an electronic, variable, dynamic pricing online auctionservice comprising of the steps of: a. receiving a registration of abuyer at an Internet, web-enabled, buyer bidding application site (site)by creating logon credentials that are used to authenticate andauthorize the buyer's access to the site, a portfolio of the buyer, andaccount information of the buyer, wherein the logon credentials areprovided by an independent 3^(rd) party through a logon agent using atleast one of proxied identification and digital certificates; b.receiving entered information about financial transaction instruments ofthe buyer, contact information including at least one of a telephonenumber, an email address, and a physical mail address, and productpreferences into an auction profile of the buyer; c. receiving a searchquery from the buyer for a desired product from the product auctions ofa plurality of auction sites including at least one of keywords, modelidentification, brand identification, synonyms, and uniqueidentification, using at least one of a search agent and a meta-searchagent, and providing returned auctions, including retrieving currentstatus of the product auctions and presenting the current status to thebuyer; receiving a selection of one or more of the returned auctions tostore in the portfolio of the buyer for tracking by one or more scanagents and for bidding by one or more bid proxies; d. receivingselections of a plurality of product auctions of the returned auctionsand placing the plurality of product auctions into the portfolio for useby a cascaded bid proxy; e. providing monitoring by the one or more scanagents of temporal progression of the plurality of product auctions, andnotifying the Buyer via a messaging center of any changes in relevantaspects of the current status of any of the plurality of productauctions that would prevent an initial bid from being placed by the bidproxy; f. enabling activation of the one or more bid proxies as anycompleting auction that nears completion of the plurality of productauctions, to begin placing one or more bids until the completing auctionis either won or lost by time of auction closing, including enablinginteraction between the scan agent and the bid proxy to place the bid ofthe buyer as close to the time of auction closing as possible and toconfirm that a counter-offer has not out-bid a most recent bid of theBuyer; g. computing and executing another valid higher bid that iswithin the bid parameters, if the counter-offer has been made andaccepted by the auction site that is higher than the most recent biddetected by the scan agent.
 2. A method for automating a Buyer's online,electronic search agent of specific electronic auctions on a targetedauction site comprising: a. providing a programmable search agent, froma server, that searches auction catalogs of a plurality of auction sitesand identifies correlations between product parameters of a Buyer thatcan be at least one of entered and stored, and can include at least oneof keywords, product classifications, and price ranges, and productsthat are listed for sale through dynamic price competitive bidding usinga number of electronic auction techniques including at least one of aDutch, Yankee, and Reverse auction techniques.
 3. The method accordingto claim 2 further comprising: b. providing additional programmablesearch agents searching said plurality of auction sites simultaneouslyfor one or more products; and c. returning a found set of said one ormore products for further review and selection by a Buyer.
 4. A methodfor executing one or more programmed bid proxies that are controlled bybid parameters comprising the steps of: a. retrieving, using a scanagent, the current auction status within a time to auction close window(TACW) wherein said TACW spans a range of time beginning at a timecalculated by subtracting an absolute time to start proxied bidding froman auction end time, and ending with a time of the auction end time,wherein the TACW defines a period of time when a scan agent and a bidproxy work in tandem to place as many bids as necessary to win anauction; b. determining, by a bid proxy, if parameters of the currentauction status fall within a range of acceptable auction statusparameters; c. computing, using the bid proxy, a next valid price byadding a minimum valid price increment to a current auction price tocompute an offer price, if the current auction price is below a maximumprice, using the parameters of the current auction status; d. activatinga bid proxy, and placing a bid in accordance with an auction sitespecific protocol, if the offer price is below the maximum price in theacceptable auction status parameters, wherein the auction site specificprotocol varies from site to site, and a basic protocol involves atleast one of entering the offer price, and authenticating as the Buyerso the offer price can be correlated with an account of the Buyer on theauction site and entered on behalf of the Buyer; e. retrieving thecurrent auction status, using the scan agent, to verify that a latestbid of the Buyer has been accepted by the auction site; f. repeatingsteps (b) through (e) until auction end, if the current auction statusindicates that the offer price of the Buyer has been rejected or outbidby another bidder; and g. scanning the auction, at the auction end, todetermine win/loss status of the auction and storing the win/loss statusin portfolio of the Buyer for later reporting to the Buyer through amessaging system.
 5. The method of claim 4, wherein step (a)comprises:
 1. computing the TACW based on a value derived from a datawarehouse of the site, wherein the value derived is computed based on aminimum absolute time that has been logged for prior successful auctionsfor a given auction site, wherein the minimum absolute time is a timetill close (TTC) value; and
 2. computing the TTC value using probabilityanalysis and auction site telemetry information computed based on recentresponse times and network latencies as determined by the scan agent. 6.A method for providing cascaded bidding comprising: a. executing aseries of cascaded bids for an identical product in temporallysequential auctions according to a programmed set of bid parameters,wherein the bid parameters comprise at least one of the following types:a programmed bid value limit for one or more units of product; analgorithmically calculated bid value limit based on prevailing marketprices for similar or identical products monitored by agents and storedin a data warehouse.
 7. The method according to claim 1, wherein step(e) comprises:
 1. notifying the Buyer when a current price of a targetedauction exceeds programmed bid parameters of the bid proxy, comprisingat least one of: a. examining with an internal scan agent, bidinformation stored in the portfolio of the Buyer; and b. sendinginformation to the Buyer using at least one of wired and wirelessmessaging technologies including at least one of an email, a page, atext page, an instant message, and an other communication, if aprogrammed bid with invalid bid parameters or other importantinformation is detected.
 8. The method according to claim 1, whereinstep (e) comprises:
 1. notifying the Buyer when an auction has been wonusing at least one of a bid proxy of the Buyer and a programmed bid,wherein information is sent to the Buyer using at least one of wired andwireless messaging technologies including at least one of an email, atext page, an instant message, a communication, and a hypertext link tobid information stored in the portfolio of the Buyer.
 9. A method forscanning online auctions using a scan agent, comprising: a. scanning webpages of a targeted auction site and extracting relevant auction statusinformation including at least one of an open, a close, a maximum bid, aminimum valid bid, a last bidder, and other auction parameters andinformation using a scan agent that can be used to compute a valid Buyerbid, comprising:
 1. retrieving one or more programmed bids, using a scanagent, from one or more portfolios of one or more buyers;
 2. extractingauction site identification from programmed bid information; 3.activating the appropriate scan agent based on the auction siteidentification and domain information of an auction site;
 4. retrievingusing the scan agent the latest auction site characterizationinformation available for that auction site;
 5. retrieving, using thescan agent, auction information from the auction site by at least one ofnavigating auction information pages of the auction site, and throughusing an application programming interface (API) that enablesprogrammatic retrieval of the auction information;
 6. the currentauction parameters are retrieved, analyzed and stored in entry for theauction in the portfolio of the Buyer; and
 7. performing furtheranalysis by at least one of one or more site agents and processes. 10.The method according to claim 9, further comprising: b. scanning statuspages of the auction site to track progress and status of a targetedauction prior auction close, the method comprising of the steps of: 1.scanning, using the scan agent, all portfolios of all Buyers for allactive auctions in each of the individual portfolios of the Buyers; 2.scanning slowly of the auctions listed in the each of the individualportfolios is performed for those auctions with TTC values that exceed aslow/fast scan threshold (SFST) value, wherein a slow/fast scan window(SFSW) is computed by subtracting the SFST value from each individualauction end time;
 3. evaluating auction status information from thoseauctions that are before the start of the SFSW to determine if theBuyer's bid parameters for a given auction are no longer valid,including messaging the reason for non-validity to the Buyer using themessaging system, if the bid parameters are no longer valid for a givenauction;
 4. changing status of programmed bid from slow scan to fastscan, if the scan agent determines that a given auction falls within theSFSW;
 5. scanning more frequently a programmed bid in fast scan mode inorder to determine the current response time or latency of the auctionsite based on prevailing network traffic conditions; and 6.transitioning the programmed bid into active bid mode, if a bid iswithin the TACW, and execution of a bid proxy programmed bid that iscontrolled by bid parameters can be performed.
 11. The method accordingto claim 9, further comprising: b. distributing one or more scan agentsto distributed network nodes including at least one of a server, aworkstation, and a peer device) and executing the scanning process(“peer scan agent”) from that node in response to high loadingconditions on the master node or counter-measures enabled by the auctionsite, a method comprising the steps of:
 1. distributing and activatingon peer servers a copy of the agents involved in the bidding process, ifat least one of the scan agent, and any other agent, detects the agentcannot access the auction site because the agent is not receiving aresponse to inquiries including at least one of a Post and a Get,wherein the peer servers are previously configured as support servers tothe site and information about the peer servers is stored in a directoryon a master node at the site;
 2. distributing, by the master node, bidproxies of auctions from the portfolio of the Buyer and bid parametersto the designated peer server now assigned the task of bidding on agiven auction by the master node;
 3. executing on the peer server theauction bid proxy as would the master node without control from themaster node; and
 4. returning to the master node subsequent to auctionend, and logging into the portfolio, the resulting win/loss/failedstatus of the auction.
 12. The method according to claim 11, whereinstep (2) comprises: i. distributing of the bid proxies to distributednetwork nodes including at least one of a server, a workstation, and apeer device, and executing a peer bid proxy process initiated from anode responsive to at least one of high loading conditions on anothernode, and counter-measures enacted by the auction site.
 13. A method foradapting to changes in auction site layout and relevant auction siteinformation, comprising: a. adapting to changes within a plurality ofweb pages of an auction site and changes across the plurality of webpages, so that one or more scan agents and one or more bid proxiesintelligently adapt to format and data type changes in the web pages ofthe auction site comprising:
 1. alerting by the scan agent of anintelligent process known as the information extractor when oldinformation that is expected to be found on a new page is not found; 2.examining a new page layout by the information extractor and comparingthe new page layout data to a stored copy of the old page layout of aknown navigable page to determine if the old information is locatedelsewhere on the new page;
 3. modifying the parameters of the scan agentby the information extractor to identify where the old information isnow located on the new page, if the old information is found in anotherlocation in the new page layout than it was in the old page layout; 4.stepping through one or more previous pages in navigation of pages ofthe auction site, by the information extractor, and scanning new linksto see if the old information has been moved to another page, if the oldinformation is not found in the new page layout;
 5. modifying parametersof the scan agent, by the information extractor, to identify the newlocation of the old information, if the old information is found; and 6.sending an alert to an administrator for the page and resultingnavigation path to be retrained by the administrator using at least oneof a neural net engine controlling the scan agent and anotherintelligent engine reprogramming mechanism, if the old information isnot found.
 14. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: h.managing at least one of payment instruments, payment devices, contact,and financial status, of the Buyer through an online, personalizablebuyer profile account comprising:
 1. presenting registration screens tothe Buyer for the collection of contact information including at leastone of an email, a physical mail address, a telephone number, a pager,and an alternative contact information, and financial instrumentinformation;
 2. creating an account information record in a database ofthe information and linking the account information record to anyactivated auction portfolios of the buyer; and
 3. providing access forthe Buyer to the account information record and modifying the accountinformation record as needed subsequent to buyer authentication.
 15. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising: h. accelerating the performanceof a bid proxy by using network telemetry and statistical algorithms toimprove the win probability of the bid, comprising:
 1. testing, using atelemetry agent, the response time of an auction site to periodicallyascertain temporal latency for various types of queries and commands; 2.optimizing balance between when to place an initial bid and keepingwinning price as low as possible, using information on the response timeobtained during response time testing, wherein response time informationis stored in an updateable profile for each auction site and is used bythe bid proxy, and wherein the telemetry information collected comprisesa screen type, and a transaction type including at least one of a queryfor auction status and a bid command, and a time span from a query to aresponse.
 16. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: h.receiving one or more persistent search agents that are programmed,persistent and operative to search one or more auction sites for productauctions of a desired product and providing returned auctions that a bidproxy can execute using at least one of a directed programmed bid, andan algorithmically calculated bid, wherein the one or more persistentsearch agents periodically search a list of a plurality of auction sitesfor product auctions that correlate with preference information storedin the profile of a buyer, comprising:
 1. creating entries by the Buyerfor each kind of product of which the Buyer desires to be notified if aproduct containing this description becomes available for bidding on anyand all auction sites;
 2. periodically searching, using the one or morepersistent search agents, search services of the plurality of auctionsites to see if a matching product can be found in lists of productsbeing auctioned; and
 3. sending, to the Buyer, a link to a found productusing the message center, if any matches are found; and i. receiving atleast one of definitions of programmed bidding parameters of thedirected programmed bid to the bid proxy, and authorization of the bidproxy to algorithmically compute a lowest market price based onreviewing prevailing market prices for similar products as determined byinformation stored in a data warehouse.
 17. The method according toclaim 1, further comprising: h. storing product preferences of the Buyerfor products, including preference information that can be used by atleast one of a persistent search agent, and a bid proxy operating underat least one of directed programmed bidding, and algorithmicallycalculated bidding parameters.